If you like catastrophic scenarios, you will certainly appreciate the ominous picture of the end of our solar system, painted by scientists from the University of Warwick. According to their research, the future of our solar system could lie in a catastrophic collapse in the grip of a white dwarf, which would eventually lead to its extinction.
The gloomy prognosis is the result of a detailed study of the fate of planetary systems involved in the intense attraction of white dwarfs formed when an average or below-average mass star collapsed. Scientists studied what happened to these planetary bodies trend analysis revealed by a decrease in the brightness of the stars caused by objects passing in front of them.
Unlike the normal transits caused by orbiting planets, transits caused by debris around white dwarfs have a different pattern. They are chaotic and disorganized, showing that the bodies are going through a very destructive process.
The fate of the white dwarf planets
“Previous research has shown that when asteroids, moons and planets approach white dwarf stars, the gravity of these stars is strong. it tears the small planetary bodies into smaller and smaller pieces,” Amornrat Aungwerojwit from Naresuan University, who led the study, explained in a press release.
The debris from the former planetary objects then collides with each other, causing them to be gradually crushed into dust, which eventually collapses into the white dwarf. In an attempt to gain more insight into how these bodies are disturbed, scientists analyzed the brightness changes of three white dwarfs over seventeen years. The interesting thing is that each of them showed different behavior.
One of the white dwarfs, designated ZTF J0328-1219, has appeared stable in recent years, but fourteen years ago it showed signs of a major catastrophic event. Another star – ZTF J0923 + 4236 – dimmed irregularly every few months and showed chaotic brightness changes of minutes before brightening again. The third white dwarf – WD 1145 + 017 – initially behaved according to theoretical predictions, but in the latest study surprisingly, it showed no transition.
What awaits the solar system?
While the future of our solar system seems secure, the eventual transformation of the sun into a red giant and then a white dwarf presents a difficult situation. The earth and other celestial bodies in our solar system would face a mass collapse in the form of a white dwarf torn apart by the forces of gravity.
“That’s sad news The Earth will likely be surrounded by the expanding Sun before it becomes a white dwarf,” says professor from the Department of Physics at the University of Warwick Boris Gaensicke. “As for the rest of the solar system, maybe some of the asteroids between Mars and Jupiter, and maybe some of Jupiter’s moons, will get ripped up and get close enough to a white dwarf that could undergo a process crush we have been studying. “
The results of the scientific research were published on Tuesday, April 9 in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. The peer-reviewed scientific journal publishes the results of original research in astronomy and astrology.
2024-04-20 06:46:34
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